Save the Boundary Waters
“Permanently protect the Boundary Waters from proposed sulfide-ore copper mining.”
The origin
How they started
Save the Boundary Waters is the campaign to permanently protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most visited wilderness in the country, from sulfide-ore copper mining on its doorstep. It built a coalition of paddlers, veterans, businesses, and tribes, and in 2023 it helped win a 20-year mineral withdrawal across the watershed. Congress repealed that withdrawal in 2026 under the Congressional Review Act, reopening a path for the Twin Metals mine and putting the fight back on. It remains one of the most effective single-place defense campaigns in the country.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “SEE SCHEDULE O.”
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Keeping wilderness wild
$2.5MCHALLENGE GOVERNMENT APPROVALS FOR MINING IN THE BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS (BWCAW) WATERSHED.
Read it as they filed it
SEE SCHEDULE O.LITIGATION:CHALLENGE GOVERNMENT APPROVALS FOR MINING IN THE BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS (BWCAW) WATERSHED. ACTIVITIES - CONTINUED TO SUPPORT STATE MERA CASE, WHICH SAW THE MN DNR RELEASE COURT-REMANDED FINDINGS OF FACT IN MAY 2023, CHALLENGING THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE DNR ON THE ISSUE OF WATER QUALITY; CONTESTED CASE HEARING TOOK PLACE NOVEMBER 2024.LEASE CANCELATION LAWSUIT BROUGHT BY TWIN METALS DISMISSED AND TWIN METALS' SUBSEQUENTLY APPEALED IN 2023. WE CONTINUED TO TRACK THE APPEAL, AND ORAL ARGUMENTS WERE HEARD IN DC COURT OF APPEALS IN JANUARY 2025RESEARCH PROJECT AND POLICY PROPOSALS AND THEIR IMPACT:MONITOR CORPORATE AND GOVERNMENT WEBSITES AND PUBLICATIONS TO IDENTIFY PROJECTS RELATED TO MINING IN THE WATERSHED OF THE BWCAW; EVALUATE OR USE CONTRACT SERVICES AS NEEDED TO ASSESS POTENTIAL IMPACTS; DEVELOP FACT SHEETS AND MAPS ON PROPOSALS AND IMPACTS.ACTIVITIES CONTINUED TO IMPLEMENT FIELD STUDIES TO ESTABLISH BASELINE CONDITIONS IN HEADWATERS; PROVIDED EXPERT OPINION IN LAWSUITS, LEGAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS; PROVIDED OVER 90% OF DATA USED BY MINNESOTA POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY TO INCLUDE BIRCH LAKE ON IMPAIRED WATERS LIST AS IMPAIRED FOR SULFATE POLLUTION , WHICH WAS APPROVED BY EPA IN MAY 2024. EDUCATE AND ENGAGE THE PUBLIC:DEVELOP INFORMATION FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION ON PROJECTS AND IMPACTS; DISTRIBUTE VIA PERTINENT CHANNELS SUCH AS WEBSITE, SOCIAL MEDIA, NEWS RELEASES, PUBLIC FORUMS, ETC.; RESPOND TO MEDIA INQUIRIES; DEVELOP OTHER OUTREACH MATERIALS AND HOST EVENTS FOR INTERESTED CITIZENS. ACTIVITIES - AS INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE OR THE ISSUE CHANGES, FACT SHEETS ARE UPDATED AND ADDED TO THE WEBSITE AND DISTRIBUTED ACCORDINGLY. MORE THAN 100 EMAIL ALERTS WERE DISTRIBUTED TO SUPPORTER LISTS. AT LEAST 8 PRESS RELEASES PUBLISHED. AT LEAST 10 MAJOR MEDIA PUBLICATIONS INITIATED AND PUBLISHED. WEEKLY POSTINGS ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, AND LINKEDIN. POSTED AT LEAST 25 BLOGS. HELD DOZENS OF PUBLIC OUTREACH EVENTS IN PERSON AND VIRTUALLY.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
78 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
$2,513,265 programs, $158,129 management, $548,512 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. Work at Save the Boundary Waters? Claim this page.
Those 100 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If Save the Boundary Waters is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Make it 101The filings
14 years of filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $5,117 |
| 2012 | $16,012 |
| 2013 | $295,266 |
| 2014 | $671,239 |
| 2015 | $1,458,679 |
| 2016 | $1,581,528 |
| 2017 | $1,795,581 |
| 2018 | $2,182,286 |
| 2019 | $2,496,487 |
| 2020 | $2,327,098 |
| 2021 | $2,959,413 |
| 2022 | $2,204,965 |
| 2023 | $2,589,402 |
| 2025 | $4,543,337 |
From $5K in 2011 to $4.5M in FY25, across 14 public filings. The 2025 peak of $4.5M reads like one-time gifts, so trust the line, not the peak.
Their ground
The places they defend
See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
Save the Boundary Waters files 2 related organizations on its return: Boundary Waters Action Fund (501(c)(4)) and Campaign Fund To Save The Boundary Waters PAC (527). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.
The Minnesota congressional delegation averages 61 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Ways in
How to help
78 cents of your dollar goes straight to the work above.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with Save the Boundary Waters
13 years on the ground, 100 volunteers, 78 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.